Molecular dynamics investigation for thin film growth morphology of Ni/Ni(111)

Using molecular dynamics simulation, the morphology of Ni thin film growth on Ni(111) substrate according to the incident energy of adatoms was investigated. Ni atoms apparently favored the island growth mode at low incident energy. The growth mode of Ni film was, however, changed to follow layer-by-layer growth mode for the incident energy of 6 eV. The steering effect due to atomic attraction, which results in rougher surface, was significantly observed at low incident energy. The local acceleration for the corresponding steering effect was quantitatively calculated. Index Terms--Growth morphology, molecular dynamics simulation, Ni/Ni(111), steering effect.